The ongoing difficulties in obtaining the best euthanasia drug, Nembutal has prompted Exit to establish an ambitious research project - the synthesis of one’s own ‘Peaceful Pill’. The project has run for several years. Many strategies have been explored and rejected and some significant advances
have been made. In this chapter we detail this Exit research and discuss in more detail the use of the drug Nembutal for a peaceful death.
The synthesis of a barbiturate like pill, involves the acquisition of restricted and hard-to-get chemicals and the use of processes that are difficult and occasionally dangerous for the novice. Nevertheless, as the pathways are established and simplified, safer processes are developed and recorded. An outline of the steps required for barbiturate synthesis and assay are described and illustrated where possible with video.